Jul. 18th, 2007

Stampeding Fashionistas Unite over “I’m not a plastic bag”

I’ll admit it. I’ve scoffed at some of the articles claiming that “green is the new black.” No doubt, the green movement and the rise of the LOHAS segment is huge. But – come on. The new black?

I may be eating my words of doubt. As of dawn this morning, Whole Foods has sold out of their just-released “I’m not a plastic bag” totes by London designer Anya Hindmarch (whose bags typically retail for $1500 or more) amid horrendous lines and in some cases, stampeding. The sold-out bags are now being auctioned on eBay for over $200.

The NYC release follows several other city debuts of the bags. Most notably, eager purchasers in Taiwan stampeded, sending 30 people to the hospital and requiring the presence of the riot police. In Hong Kong, the police closed down the entire shopping mall.

The designer of “I’m not a plastic bag” (in this New York Times article) says, “I hate the idea of making the environment trendy, but you need to make it cool and then it becomes a habit.” True story. Here at Mortar we’ve spoken with a lot of LOHAS consumers and many would fit into what we would call the “green bandwagoner” mindset. I guess green really is the new black.

Notaplasticbag_final

Comments

  • Jul. 18th, 2007

    I am partial to Envirosax. Also “not a plastic bag”, but I think they are way more hip, cute, stylish, cool. The Envirosax website says: “stylish reusable shopping bags simultaneously rescuing shoppers from the mundanity of unfashionable choices, and the planet from the dangers of unconscionable choices.” Right on! I have been getting so many compliments on the bags as I schlep my stuff around in them, and it feels great saying, “I don’t need a bag for that” when I am making purchases. I ordered mine from http://www.Delight.com/ – but they can also be found on http://usa.envirosax.com/

  • Jul. 19th, 2007

    “I’m Not a Plastic Bag” are made under unethical conditions. That is some delicious irony there.
    http://tinyurl.com/2sagx2
    Sarah, the Envirosax looks great! We use the plain totes our grocery store sells – you get a discount every time you use your own bag. Sweet!

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